Launch Coworking Space provides collaborative workspaces at the Grain Exchange Building on Lombard Street in downtown Winnipeg.
Company president Jason Abbott acknowledges the neighborhood is quieter than before the pandemic, but believes co-working spaces will be part of the conversation about the future of downtown Winnipeg.
According to Abbot, these desks will help people escape the loneliness caused by working from home.
The people around you are what inspires you to think differently. [Dans les espaces de co-travail], people will help you find the inspiration you need to make [par exemple] this additional sale. You don’t get that inspiration from your cat at home.
A quarter of pre-pandemic ridership
According to the Business Improvement Zones (BIZ) of the downtown area of Winnipeg, 70,000 full-time workers occupied offices and businesses in the neighborhood before the pandemic.
The Downtown Business Improvement Zone, the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ, commissioned a survey from the firm Probe Research. About a quarter of people who worked downtown before COVID-19 now return there every day, according to the results.
Probe Research conducted a survey on behalf of Downtown BIZ between September 7 and 20, 2021 and surveyed a random sample of 600 Winnipeggers reached by cell phone and landline. The margin of error is + or – 4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Despite these numbers, Abbott is optimistic. He recalls that the intersection of Portage Avenue and Main Street in Winnipeg has been at the heart of commercial activity for decades.
With information from Sam Samson
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